Damper for musical instruments



Dec. 11, 1956 J. F. DVORAK 2,773,408

DAMPER FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed March '7, 1955 j H INVENTOR.

6 JOSEPH F. DVORAK BY DES JARDINS ROBINSON 8- KEISER HIS ATTORNEYS United States Patent DAMPER FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Joseph F. Dvorak, Deer Park, Ohio, assignor of one-third p to Ferdinand Machalek and one-third to Joseph Litachleh, Cincinnati, Ohio Application March 7, 1955, Serial No. 492,624

9 Claims. (Cl. 84-217) This invention relates to musical instruments and,

more particularly, to a novel form of damper for silencing of the present invention is intended for use with musical instruments of the string-on-key type as shown in copending patent application Serial No. 438,404, filed June 22, 1954, by Ferdinand and Ludmila Machalek. In the musical instrument therein shown, the hammers are mounted on the keys above the strings and each hammer shank is fitted with a felt damper for silencing the string struck by the hammer when the key returns to its home position. This construction is subject to the disadvantage that in the treble section where the strings are very short,

the tails of the hammers on which the dampers are mounted lie beyond the ends of the strings and special provision must be made for damping the strings by other means. To eliminate the need of making special provision for damping the treble strings, I have devised a novel damper construction which is applicable to all of the strings regardless of their length and which provides, therefore, a more desirable method of damping than that heretofore used.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a novel damping means for a string-on-key type of piano.

Another object of my invention is to provide a damper which is supported on the key and is capable of movement relative thereto in order to efiiect damping of the string carried by the key as the latter returns to its home position.

Another object of the invention is to provide selectively operable means for preventing damping of the string with the key in its home position.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent from the following description, the invention includes certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts the essential elements of which are set forth in the appended claims and a preferred form or embodiment of which will hereinafter be described with reference to the drawings which accompany and form a part of the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one of the keys of the string-on-key type of instrument showing the new style of damper mounted thereon.

Fig. 2 shows a portion of the key structure shown in Fig. l but with the key in its depressed position.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the position of the damper when the sustaining pedal is depressed and the key is in its home position.

The musical instrument to which I have shown my invention applied is similar to the string-on-key type of instrument disclosed in the above-mentioned copending patent application Serial No. 438,404. In this form of instrument, the keys 10 thereof each carry a string 11 tuned to a different pitch by means of tuning pin 12 mounted on the rear end of the key. The speaking portion of the string extends between agraife pins 13 and 14, and the other end of the string is secured to a hitch pin 15 secured to the key. Each key is provided with a finger piece 16 at its forward end and is pivotally supported on a balance rail 17 by means of a balance pin iii in accordance with conventional practice. The keys are maintained in proper alignment and prevented from transverse movement by a guide pin 19 received in an elongated aperture 20 provided in the forward edge of the balance rail 17.

The balance of the keys are such that the rear portion of each key is heavier than the forward portion thereof so that the rear end of the key will rest on a pad of felt 24 supported on a key-rest rail 25. The balance rail 17 and key-rest rail 25 are held in spaced relationship by transverse frame members 26 so as to provide a flat, rigid frame on which the keys are supported for pivotal movement.

Each key 10 has mounted thereon a hammer 30 which is adapted to strike against the string 11 when the key is depressed so as to excite the string into vibration and thereby produce a musical note in a loudspeaker operatively associated with the string by means of a suitable pickup and amplifier. As shown, the hammer 30 is mounted on one end of a shank 31 which is pivoted at 32 on a stanchion 33 carried by the key 10. Each hammer 30 is normally held in its raised position, as shown in Fig. 1, by means of a spoon or pin 34 carried by a rail 35. The hammers are supported on their associated pins 34 by means of cars 36 formed on the upper ends thereof which overlie the pins and hold the hammers against counterclockwise rotation about the pivots 32. Whenever a key is depressed, however, the string 11 will be raised to meet the striking nose 37 of its associated hammer after which the hammer will be lifted off the string by engagement of the tail of the hammer with a regulating bar 38. The brief and instantaneous impact of the hammer against the string will produce a clear, vibrant tone which will continue until the key is released and permitted to return to its home position whereupon the string will be silenced by the damping -means now to be described.

As best shown in Fig. 2, each key is provided near its rear end with a vertically disposed bore 44 which, at its upper end, terminates in an enlarged recess 45 ,which continues on up to the top of the key. Received therein is the head 46 of a damper 47 which is guided for reciprocatory movement within the key by a stem 48 which is fitted for sliding movement within the bore 44. The head 46 is surmounted by a felt pad 49 which etfects damping of the string 11 by pressing against the string when the key is in its home position as shown in Fig. 1 When the key is depressed, however, the damper felt 49 is moved away from the string by means of a light compression spring 50 which surrounds the stem 48 below the key and is compressed between the bottom face of the key and a button 51 mounted on the bottom of the stem. As shown in Fig. 2, when the key is raised, the spring 50 moves the damper down until the bottom of the head 46 rests against a felt washer 52 lying in the bottom of the recess 45. The string 11 is thereby free to vibrate when struck by the hammer without interference on the part of the damper 47. When the key is released, the button 51 on the bottom of the damper stem will move against a felt pad 53 mounted on the upper face of a control rail 54. The damper will thereby be raised against the bias of the spring 56) and felt 49 will be brought into contact with the string 11 to silence the vibrations of the string as the key returns to its home position as shown in Fig. 1.

Sustained vibrations of the strings 11 after the keys have returned to their home positions may be effected by depression of a foot pedal as which, When depressed, will raise a push rod 61 and rock the control rail 54 clock wise about its pivot on the key-rest rail 25. The rail 54 will thereby be lowered and allow the springs 50 on the dampers to move the felts 49 thereof away from the strings 11 as shown in Fig. 3 so that sustained vibrations from the strings may continue until the pedal 60 is released which will permit the rail to be returned to its normal position under the influence of a suitable return spring 63. The spring 63 is sufficiently strong to overcome the combined effect of springs 56 on the rail 54 and maintain the rail in its raised position until pressure is applied on the foot pedal 60.

While 1 have described my invention in connection with one possible form or embodiment thereof and have used, therefore, certain specific terms and language herein, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is illustrative rather than restrictive and that changes and modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims which follow.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent, is:

1. A device for silencing the string of a musical instrument comprising a depressible key, a string mounted on said key and extending longitudinally thereof, means for exciting said string into vibration when said key is depressed, and means for silencing said string when the icy is released including a damper mounted on said key beneath said string for movement into and out of. contact with said string, means normally biasing said damper out of contact with said string, and means for moving said damper into contact with said string when the key returns to its undepressed position.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said last-mentioned means includes a stationary abutment member.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said damper is mounted for reciprocatory movement on said key.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said damper includes a plunger mounted for transverse sliding movement on said key.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said plunger has a head lying beneath said string, and a stem passing transversely through said key.

6. The device of claim 5 including a coil spring sur-. rounding said stem on the side of the key opposite said string.

7. A device for silencing the string of a musical instrument comprising a frame, a depressible key mounted on said frame, a string mounted on said key and extending longitudinally thereof, means for exciting said string into vibration when said key is depressed, a damper mounted on said key for reciprocatory movement into and out of contact with. said string, means for biasing said damper out of contact with said string, and abutment means mounted on said frame for movement from a damping position in which it is effective to move said damper into contact with said string, when the key returns to its undepressed position, to a sustaining position in which it is inefiective to move said damper into contact with said string when the key returns to its undepressed posi tion.

8. A device for silencing the string of a musical instrument comprising a frame, a depressible key mounted on said frame, a string mounted on said key extending longitudinally thereof, means for exciting said string into vibration each time said key is depressed, a damper mounted on said key for silencing said string, said damper including a plunger having a head lying beneath said string and a stem passing transversely through said key, a coil spring surrounding the end of said stem on the side of said key opposite said string for biasing said head away from said string, and abutment means mounted on said frame for movement axially of said stem, said abutment means being movable from a damping position in which it engages the end of said stern when the key returns to its undepressed position and moves the head of said plunger into contact with said string, to a sustaining position in which it is withdrawn from said stern so as to be ineffective to move said plunger into contact with said string as the key returns to its undepressed position,

97 A device for silencing the string of a musical instrument comprising a depressible key, a string mounted 011 said key and extending longitudinally thereof, means for exciting said string into vibration when said key is depressed, and means for silencing said string when the key is released including a damper mounted on said key adjacent to said string for movement into and out of contact with the string, means normally biasing said damper out of contact with said string, and means for moving said damper into contact with said string when the key returns to its undepressed position. 

